INBOX / EUDIO

[tet]

call, text or otherwise bother roland here!

Comments

voice

[whittling]

I've got two six packs of Pepsi, if you want to haul yourself over for more palaver.

[tet]

( he'd dozed off on his balcony. warm afternoon light and all that. it's the call that wakes him up, but he misses it anyway, too sluggish to get to it in time, but it's still less than ten minutes before he calls eddie back. )

I - ( throat clears. ) You left the message - about Pep-sea - I haven't tried that yet.

[whittling]

And the king rises.

[ moving right on, not even expecting a laugh or a reaction. ]

I've got like 12 bottles and I'm not gonna drink them alone.

[tet]

( he's right not to expect anything, because that's precisely what he gets. )

Why do you have twelve bottles?

[whittling]

I... bought twelve? [ leave him alone roland! ] Look, get your ass over here before I drink them without you.

[tet]

Now?

( is that a touch of amusement in his voice. )

[whittling]

No, in 3 days.

[ slightly exasperated exhale. ]

Yes, now.

[ somewhat hesitant. ]

If you're not busy.

[tet]

( his eyebrows raise even though eddie can't see him. )

Of course I'm not busy. I'll be over within the hour, Eddie.

[whittling]

Alright. You know where my place is.

[ although he wants to say more, there isn't much else to add, and roland will be here soon, anyway. ]

See you soon.

[ and he hangs up. ]

text

[whittling]

hey roland
i know gwen, by the way
she told me about reading the books for you
she'll do a better job than i would

[tet]

I had no plans to tell you about this but
I know
After our last palaver I thought you should be spared from reading them

[whittling]

well
thank you. i appreciate that

you'll be seeing more of gwen as im seeing her
im glad you two are getting along

[tet]

Seeing her?

[whittling]

yeah, uh
im in love with her so we're kind of a thing

[tet]

I see

[whittling]

that got awkward fast
you can say what you wanna say

[tet]

I don't have anything to say

KEYWORD RELEVANT

[whittling]

no?
not even gonna point out the part where im married?

[tet]

Why point out something you're already aware of?
If you're hoping I'll tell you that you're doing a terrible thing to your wife, you'll have to look elsewhere

[whittling]

i dont know i kinda figured you'd wanna ask what was up with that

[tet]

Men sleep with women who aren't their wives every day
Given that yours is in another world it almost makes sense
Perhaps if I knew your wife I would feel differently but I don't

[whittling]

yeah
guess im just one of those
i wish you did know her. you changed her life too

[tet]

Do you want me to tell you that your circumstances make you exempt from being like every other person?
That has never been how it works
You're neither better or worse for this

[whittling]

yeah, thanks
ive heard that before

[tet]

( roland doesn't know what eddie wants from him. at all.
he thinks on kissing eddie, but that doesn't make anything clearer.
hm. )

I won't kiss you again
I don't think you need things any more complicated

[whittling]

[ the response comes a long while later. ]

were you going to
i thought that was just a thing to make me feel better i didnt really know what to make of it
obviously
from my
eloquent reaction

[tet]

( to - ? what? )

I kissed you because I wanted to kiss you

[whittling]

[ another long stretch of time before he answers. ]

you dont know me

[tet]

What does that have to do with it

[whittling]

its weird
for me

[tet]

I said I won't kiss you again
You've really no need to drag this out

[whittling]

i dont mean
i'm
i never thought id need to use that word for myself but flabbergasted about covers it

ok ok im dropping i didnt want you to think i thought that was fucked up of you or anything its just surprising in the like holy shit that sure happened! kind of way and i dont know why youd wanna do that when you barely know me at all you know and its weird that you dont remember me but i remember you and everything thats what i meant theres a lot of weirds going on for me here. like its a lot fo process on five different levels

[tet]

I'm not this person that you remember
Well.
It is me and it's not me

I am who I am before I met this ka-tet, and long after I last felt that kind of love
Even if some of this is the ghost of this man who was yours, it's my heart and mind now

In the times when I was capable of such, I fell in love with people I had known for less than I know you now

You lived and died with and for me, a version of me
Why would I not want to kiss you

( there's a lull between these various texts, as if half waiting on a reply before deciding that he has more to say. roland finds explaining himself uncomfortable at best. he's still not sure he made sense of it. those last two texts are the closest gist of it, creeping in on the mixed and vast emotions that eddie provoked - provokes - in him. )

[whittling]

dying for someone is the ultimate romantic gesture huh

anyway

all this... you but not you stuff is confusing and i want to help you figure it out but
its gonna be weird for me sometimes okay
and thats my own shit and my own issues and ill get over them

video;

[ladyhacktivist]

Hi there.

[ She hoped she didn't look as nervous as she felt. ]

[tet]

That's not what I meant.

If it's weird for you, I promise it's as strange for me.

[whittling]

i know
what im saying is youre gonna have to be patient with me and im gonna have to be patient with you

[tet]

We'll figure it out.

[whittling]

yeah, yeah
i know

[tet]

( he's not actually frowning; there's some from-another-world problem he has that makes viewing videos a headache, but he's dealing. )

Hile – ( 'scuse his accent and turns of phrase. ) Nomi, isn't it?

[ladyhacktivist]

Yeah, Nomi.

[ Not exactly a warm welcome. ]

...is this a bad time?

[tet]

( shit! )

Not at all. Cry pardon if it seems that way.
I'm not used to these things.

( you know, videos, social communication, being a human. )

[ladyhacktivist]

Online dating? It's kind of new for me too.

[tet]

Exactly. ( something of a relieved smile. ) We've not even electrics where I'm from. Dating at all is more – arranged courtships. Or eloping, if you've no love for the courtship.

[ladyhacktivist]

I come from a wealthier family where marrying into the right family comes with a certain kind of pressure... but that was always second string to my coming out as Trans.

What does 'courtship' involve where you're from?

[tet]

Ah - I understand that. My father was the city's dinh. For me, my parents wanted me to marry a particular girl. So she was my dancing partner, they encouraged us to spend time together. It didn't work out, for good or ill.

( beat. full disclosure: )

I had to google what trans meant, after reading your page. There's a lot of words for it, back home, just that wasn't one of them.

[ladyhacktivist]

I hope they weren't synonyms for 'witch' or 'deviant' or 'satan worshipper.'

[ She says it with a wry smile, but she's expecting the worst all the same. ]

[tet]

Not at all. No world is a perfect world, but anyone could be who they were, if they had the right friends and family. And if not - my world's been in a state of moving on for as long as I can remember, now, and if nothing else, it's good for freedom.

[ladyhacktivist]

I'm glad. I would say that I wish I could move to your world but it sounds like you don't have internet and I guess having my identity questioned at every turn is the lesser of two evils :)